Greatest Hits (Queen album)
}} }} | rev2 = Entertainment Weekly | rev2Score = B+ | rev3 = ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide | rev3Score = |noprose=yes }} 'Greatest Hits' is a compilation album by the British rock band Queen, released in the UK on 26 October 1981. The album consisted of Queen's best-selling singles since their first chart appearance in 1974 with "Seven Seas of Rhye", up to their 1980 hit "Flash" (though in some countries "Under Pressure", the band's 1981 chart-topper with David Bowie, was included). There was no universal track listing or cover art for the album, and each territory's tracks were dependent on what singles had been released there and which were successful. Queen's ''Greatest Hits was an instant success, peaking at number one on the UK Album Chart for four weeks. It has spent over 700 weeks in the UK Charts, and is the best-selling album of all time in the UK, selling over 6 million copies there.Queen head all-time sales chart BBC Retrieved 23 January 2011 Queen becomes longest reigning chart act Daily Mail Retrieved 23 January 2011 It is certified 8x Platinum in the United States, and is Queen's most commercially successful album worldwide with over 25 million copies sold, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.In Pictures: 50 years of pop BBC News Retrieved 17 January 2011RIAA - Gold and Platinum Recording Industry Association of America Retrieved 23 January 2011 Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien hailed Greatest Hits as "impeccable" and "absolutely genius", while British journalist Brian Viner called it the single greatest album ever made. History There was no universal track listing or cover art for the Greatest Hits album, and each territory's tracks were dependent on what singles were released there and what tracks charted. In some cases, despite the band's popularity, not enough songs were issued as singles to fill a compilation album, and a few album tracks were used as filler. Some examples of these were "Sweet Lady" and "Love of My Life", neither was released as a single in any country, but appear on some regions' 1981 Hits release. In the UK and the U.S., where solid numbers could be collected, the standard was raised again by only including top 20 hits. The U.S. ended up with its original edit of Queen's first single release, "Keep Yourself Alive", which had been re-released in the U.S. in 1975 (original release was 1973) after the success of "Bohemian Rhapsody". Also, because of the delay in release dates between the UK (out first) and the U.S. (almost a month later), the U.S. was able to add "Under Pressure" (Queen's duet with David Bowie) to its Hits collection, as it was released during that interim. In Argentina and Brazil, the LP edition included the same list of UK Greatest Hits minus "Seven Seas of Rhye", and including "Love of My Life" (Live Killers version). CD version is the same as the British. The cover photo that appeared on the UK and US release was taken by Lord Snowdon at his home studio using only natural light. For the 1981 release the photo was skewed but later presented as it was originally taken for the 2011 re-release. In 1991, Queen sought to issue a [[Greatest Hits II (Queen album)|second Greatest Hits]] collection worldwide, this time with a standard track listing. However, the band had just changed record labels in the US, from Capitol to Hollywood Records, who were keen on a massive promotion of the band's back catalogue. The problem was that Elektra still held the US rights to that first 1981 collection (despite being Hollywood's US licensee). Hollywood Records decided to not release Greatest Hits II to the U.S. market, but instead created their own collection, Classic Queen (1992), peaking at no. 4.Billboard 25 Jul 1992 p.8. Billboard. Retrieved 30 May 2011 This compilation was made up of tracks such as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Keep Yourself Alive" and "Under Pressure" (which had already appeared on the Elektra 1981 Hits collection) as well as newer tracks ("A Kind of Magic" and "Radio Ga Ga").Queen Album: Classic Queen MTV. Retrieved 30 May 2011 Some tracks were not even singles in the U.S. ("One Year of Love") or anywhere ("Stone Cold Crazy"). Though well received, this collection would eventually pose the problem of overlapping track lists in the future. Hollywood Records, later that year, re-released a companion collection Greatest Hits with similar artwork (on a red background, where Classic Queen was on royal blue). Commonly referred to as the Red Greatest Hits, it features most of the '70s tracks absent from Classic Queen (including "Another One Bites the Dust" 1980, "We Will Rock You", "We Are the Champions" and "Killer Queen"). In 2004, to promote the Las Vegas production of the musical We Will Rock You, Hollywood Records released Greatest Hits: We Will Rock You Edition which was the UK Greatest Hits with three bonus tracks. Commercial performance By 2006, 25 years after its first release, Greatest Hits had become the best-selling album in the UK and the first album to sell more than five million copies there. In 2014, it became the first album in the UK to sell over six million copies. In the United States, the album has sold eight million copies, making it the band's best-selling album there. Track listing This section includes the track listings for the original Greatest Hits in its various forms. For other compilations, including the second and third Greatest Hits albums, see the relevant articles. On the 17-track UK editions, Freddie Mercury wrote ten songs, Brian May wrote five and John Deacon wrote two. Roger Taylor had not written any singles for the band at that time. Side one | writing_credits = yes | title1 = Bohemian Rhapsody | note1 = from A Night at the Opera, 1975 | writer1 = Freddie Mercury | length1 = 5:57 | title2 = Another One Bites the Dust | note2 = from The Game, 1980 | writer2 = John Deacon | length2 = 3:36 | title3 = Killer Queen | note3 = from Sheer Heart Attack, 1974 | writer3 = Mercury | length3 = 2:57 | title4 = Fat Bottomed Girls | note4 = single version, from Jazz, 1978 | writer4 = Brian May | length4 = 3:22 | title5 = Bicycle Race | note5 = from Jazz, 1978 | writer5 = Mercury | length5 = 3:01 | title6 = You're My Best Friend | note6 = from A Night at the Opera, 1975 | writer6 = Deacon | length6 = 2:52 | title7 = Don't Stop Me Now | note7 = from Jazz, 1978 | writer7 = Mercury | length7 = 3:29 | title8 = Save Me | note8 = Single Version on 1981 Release only, from The Game, 1980 | writer8 = May | length8 = 3:48 }} | total_length = 58:43 | writing_credits = yes | title1 = We Will Rock You | length1 = 2:02 | title2 = We Are the Champions | length2 = 3:01 | title3 = Another One Bites the Dust | length3 = 3:37 | title4 = Killer Queen | length4 = 3:01 | title5 = Somebody to Love | length5 = 4:56 | title6 = Fat Bottomed Girls (LP version) | length6 = 4:16 | title7 = Bicycle Race | length7 = 3:02 | title8 = You're My Best Friend | length8 = 2:51 | title9 = Crazy Little Thing Called Love | length9 = 2:43 | title10 = Now I'm Here | length10 = 4:14 | title11 = Play the Game | length11 = 3:31 | title12 = Seven Seas of Rhye | length12 = 2:48 | title13 = Body Language | note13 = from Hot Space, 1982 | writer13 = Mercury | length13 = 4:33 | title14 = Save Me | length14 = 3:48 | title15 = Don't Stop Me Now | length15 = 3:34 | title16 = Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy | length16 = 2:55 | title17 = I Want to Break Free | length17 = 4:22 | note17 = single mix, from The Works, 1984 | writer17 = Deacon }} | total_length = 69:17 | writing_credits = yes | title18 = I'm in Love with My Car | note18 = rare original single mix, from A Night at the Opera, 1975 | writer18 = Roger Taylor | length18 = 3:12 | title19 = Under Pressure | note19 = from Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl, 2004 | length19 = 3:39 | title20 = Tie Your Mother Down | note20 = from Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl, 2004 | writer20 = May | length20 = 3:52 }} | total_length = 63:00 | writing_credits = yes | title18 = Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together) | note18 = From A Day at the Races, 1976 | writer18 = May | length18 = 5:07 }} In addition to the variations above, the official biography Queen: As It Began by Jacky Gunn and Jim Jenkins states the following variations on the original UK track listing: *Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela had "Love Of My Life" (live version) instead of "Seven Seas Of Rhye". *Belgium and Spain had "Spread Your Wings" as an extra track. *Australia was identical to the UK version, but had "Tie Your Mother Down" as an extra track. *Bulgaria had "Death On Two Legs" and "Sweet Lady" as extra tracks. *Canada, Germany, Israel and Netherlands had "Under Pressure" as an extra track. *Germany also added "Spread Your Wings" on some 1st pressing copies. Charts Certifications }} Release history See also *List of best-selling albums *List of best-selling albums in the United Kingdom *List of best-selling albums in Australia *List of best-selling albums in Germany Notes External links * Queen official website: Discography: Greatest Hits: includes lyrics of "Flash". Category:Queen (band) compilation albums Category:1981 compilation albums Category:1992 compilation albums Category:Elektra Records compilation albums Category:Hollywood Records compilation albums Category:Parlophone compilation albums